Genesis 7:1
The LORD then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.
Genesis 18:19
For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
“God preserves.” Yes, God preserves. He preserved the children of Israel, according to His promise to Abraham. He preserved Himself, His Character in the spirit and soul of Joseph. He wasn’t finished with either party, Joseph or his brothers. For the family of Jacob, God’s promise to make them a great nation was four hundred years from fruition. God does not allow His Word to go out from His mouth without power. His Word will be fulfilled in the face of the most dire circumstances or conditions. Isn’t that good news? What He promises, He performs. There has been a whole movement of Christianity for about the last one hundred and fifty years that has brought attention to that fact. While many may disagree about the particulars of the ’Heaven on Earth’ movement in it’s various forms, it has served a greater purpose in awakening the Church to the fact that God is an ever present help in time of need. We may not all believe in a ‘prosperity gospel’, but we all believe that God is near. He’s near, He’s able, He’s willing. Willing and able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we can ask or think. Does God still deliver from the worst of circumstances? Yes He does. Does He still heal, deliver, set free? Yes He does. Does He still break chains of bondage, destroy yokes of oppression and despair? To the uttermost. God still cares about and cares for His people: the Church. He has prepared a place for us. He will personally see to it that we are preserved for His good purpose, here in the earth and into Eternity. Be encouraged. God is working on your behalf. He never fails. Am I laying it on too thick? Not to worry… I’m not preaching ‘easy street’.
There are no loose ends with God. Nothing happens outside His ability to work His purpose out through it. After nine years of freedom from slavery and prison, I’m sure Joseph felt ‘healed’, ‘delivered’, ‘free’. Whatever it was that brought him to the eventuality that was Pharaoh’s prison, no matter how seemingly unjust, surely nine years of ‘freedom’ would have healed all wounds. But, when Joseph’s brothers showed up, begging for food, Joseph discovered that… somewhere on the inside of himself… there was some stuff. You know…..stuff; feelings, emotions, unseemly and ungodly. Stuff that still needed to be dealt with. After all, wherever that place was on Joseph’s inside, where he was feeling this stuff, isn’t that where God was? As a believer, isn’t He somewhere on the inside of you, right in the middle of all your stuff? Yes I’m meddling. But you know what? It’s hitting me first. I can’t speak for everyone else, but I do know about me. God is not through with me yet. He is continually working to get my stuff; my sin, my iniquity dealt with. And often times He uses people. Family, friends, loved ones, Church members, strangers, whoever so that I can externalize (confess) some stuff I’ve internalized. Halleluiah! Isn’t that good news? It is to me. God’s Word tells me that He doesn’t want to dwell in an unclean temple: a junky place, filled with a lot of ‘stuff’. (Am I belaboring the point?) Sure, He’s sanctifies His new place (my inner man) by the shed blood of Jesus, but then it’s time to remodel, redecorate, refresh and renew (I hear some stirring in the audience. I’m almost at the hoop). Beloved, thirteen years of slavery and prison, trials and tribulation surely had worked some stuff out of Joseph, but maybe Joseph had held onto some stuff as well. Maybe he was holding onto a little vindictiveness, a little self righteousness? Might there have been some misplaced pride in there? Whatever it was, God was interested in getting it out to the curb. Where stuff; unwanted stuff belongs. Beloved, God gives his gifts without repentance. He gives them so that a world shrouded in darkness will testify to His power. But, more than power, God desires to display His character. He desires to display His character in you. What is God’s character? God is love. That great love manifests itself in a variety of ways: love, joy, peace, mercy, patience, faithfulness, sometimes just plain goodness, meekness and self control. People who display or demonstrate these character traits are magnets for the lost. Puppies, small children and lost people will be drawn to the living well from all life flows. Jesus said that men would know you by the fruit that you bear. Joseph great gifts preserved the nation of Egypt, but when he allowed God to kick some of his stuff to the curb and put His (God’s) character on display; when he embraced his brothers and forgave them, he reconciled himself, not only to his family, but to the promise that God had given Abraham. In a moment of forgiveness, God’s plan for the Church to come (You and I) was put back on track. Talk about power. At the cross, Jesus forgave…us. Talk about power. What about you? What opportunity might you have to demonstrate God’s love, the power of His love? How might it change someone’s eternal destiny? Selah.
.wb
Galatians 5:19 (The Message)
It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.
Galatians 5:22 (The Message)
But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
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